


Paper Snowflakes and Mariah Carey

by its_too_cliche_24



Series: 12 Days of Ficmas (2020) [5]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: 12 Days of Christmas, Boredom, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Crafts, M/M, Sickfic, Singing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:35:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28167099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/its_too_cliche_24/pseuds/its_too_cliche_24
Summary: After getting sick offworld, Jack and Daniel have to quarantine through Christmas.
Relationships: Daniel Jackson/Jack O'Neill
Series: 12 Days of Ficmas (2020) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2057148
Kudos: 25





	Paper Snowflakes and Mariah Carey

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is about being sick and quarantine. If thats too triggering for anyone, this is your warning!
> 
> Sorry if this is a little too real right now, I just had the idea and ran with it.

Daniel blew a tuft of hair out of his eyes, laying on his back in boredom. He tried to take a nap, but the rhythmic sound of Jack tossing a baseball against the wall was too distracting.

"Read a book," the man helpfully suggested across the room.

"Read em all," Daniel lamented, rolling to a sitting position on the side of his bed.

The swift movement caused the room to spin, and he squeezed his eyes shut in hopes it'd stop him from feeling so queasy.

"Easy there big guy," Jack joked, but Daniel could hear the underlying worry in his tone.  
He waved a dismissive hand at him, and exhaled a measured breath.

This wasn't how either of them wanted to spend their Christmas, locked in a concrete room on base, not allowed to leave until they got the say so from Dr. Fraiser. Sam and Teal'c, of course, were clean as a whistle, but Jack and Daniel? Not so much.

"How are you feeling?" Jack asked as Daniel continued to exhale.

"I _was_ feeling pretty great until I tried to sit up," Daniel laughed, but the motion hurt too much so he stopped.

Except for the sound of the baseball bouncing, the room fell silent. For a few more minutes Daniel continued to sit with his eyes squeezed shut. Little by little he could feel his queasiness slipping away, and felt relieved. Today he really wanted to do something...productive.

Well, maybe not productive, but something to boost their spirits and get some Christmas cheer. Yesterday when he discovered he'd read all the books, he also discovered some sheets of paper and scissors. Not much, but _perfect_ to make snowflakes with.

"Damn these off world viruses, huh?" Jack huffed in irritation, "I can't believe we have to miss Sam's annual Christmas party."

Daniel sighed in agreement and he took out his supplies and brought them to the table in the center of the room.

This seemed to pique Jack's interest, since instead of tossing the ball he caught it, and turned to look at Daniel. He threw his legs over the edge of his bed with enough ease to make Daniel jealous, and rested his head on his hands. Suddenly content just watching Daniel.

"Whatcha doin?"

"I'm gonna make some snowflakes, wanna join?" Daniel asked, doing his best to fold the paper just right.

It'd been awhile since he'd done anything like this...like, since elementary school. Daniel folded the paper into a triangle and began to randomly cut along the sides. He carefully opened it into a… the "snowflake" came out in two odd looking pieces, and didn't actually look like a snowflake.

Jack snorted, and settled back into his bed.  
"Yeah, I'm gonna pass."

Daniel shot a glare his direction, and pulled out another sheet. Second time's the charm...maybe. He just wanted _something_ Christmas-y in this prison cell - not prison cell.

On the bright side, the second snowflake turned out much better. Not only was it in one piece, but surprisingly resembled an actual flake. Now he was getting into a rhythm. He methodically folded paper after paper, cutting them into different snowflakes each time, even experimenting and making some smaller than others. The craft was so distracting he forgot about how bad he felt. And he didn't notice that Jack hadn't gone back to tossing his baseball.

Several more snowflakes in, and the springs in Jack's bed creaked as he eased himself off of it. He made his way to the door where he knocked on it roughly.

 _"What can we do for you?"_  
A muffled voice asked.

"We need some string and some tape. Any kind, doesn't matter. Just make sure there's a _lot_ of it." Jack commanded.

 _"Yessir!"_ They yelled, and the sound of footsteps going down the hall followed.

Daniel looked at Jack inquisitively. With a stretch and an overly dramatic groan, Jack pulled out the chair next to Daniel and sat.

"Well, we have to hang all these up somehow," Jack said nonchalantly, "now how do you do these?"

To hide the grin creeping up on his face, he cleared some space on the table to show Jack what to do. He demonstrated each fold and Jack followed them perfectly, to Daniel's surprise.

They worked in silence after Jack was decidedly a pro at making paper snowflakes, and the pile grew bigger and bigger.

"We should sing some Christmas songs," Daniel joked, the silence becoming a little too much to take.

Jack snorted.

"Seriously?"

"Hey it's something!"

Jack rolled his eyes, but to Daniel's surprise, launched into an off-key rendition of _Jingle Bells_.

"Oh come on," Daniel chided as soon as Jack finished, "we can do better than that!"

"Are you mocking my singing abilities, Doctor Jackson?"

_"I don't want a lot for Christmas…"_

" _No_ , not that one!" Jack interrupted, covering his face.

Before he did, Daniel saw a smile tugging the corners of his mouth, which in his book was a pretty good sign he should continue.

_"There is just one thing I need…"_

Jack moved his hand so instead of covering his face, it was positioned like it was shielding Jack from a bright light behind Daniel. He shook his head, but his smile was undeniable.

"Are we really doing this?"

_"I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree-"_

Was Jack sctually _squirming_ in his chair? A laugh slipped out, cutting the note short, but Daniel was having way too much fun with this to care. Jack glared his direction, but this time they both knew there was no malice behind it.

_"I just want you for my own…"_

There was something about Jack's reaction that was way too enjoyable for Daniel to quit. It was like he was embarrassed, but at the same time didn't want Daniel to stop.

_"More than you could ever know…"_

But then again, the song was entering some dangerous territory for him to be singing at another man. Even though it wasn't necessarily _to_ Jack - as far as he ever needed to know.

_"Make my wish come true -"_

Instinctively, Daniel cut himself off. Which was not only really obvious, but caught Jack's attention as well. They looked at each other for a beat.

Two beats.

Three.

"Aren't you gonna finish that thought there?" Jack leaned forward in his seat, resting his arms on the table. Heat rushed to Daniel's cheeks.

_"Sir, we have the supplies you asked for. Please make sure you and Doctor Jackson aren't near the door please."_

For a moment,, Jack didn't respond, but continued to look at Daniel intently. After a split second, he ripped his gaze away and turned towards the door.

"Coast is clear, bring it in!"

The door swung open, and someone in a full hazmat suit came in, holding a box of tape and string.

"Thanks guys, set her there," Jack instructed, even though they paid him no attention.

Daniel almost wanted them to stay so he wouldn't have to answer whatever Jack was oh so subtly asking. But too quickly they left, which Daniel couldn't exactly blame them for.

"What do you say, time to figure out where to put these?" Jack asked, brandishing a tape dispenser.

"What do you want me to say?" Daniel blurted.

Then, immediately wanted to kick himself.

The road was completely set up, even paved for him to make a smooth exit from that conversation topic. But his mouth had a mind of its own, and apparently wasn't very willing to let that go.

"You were going to say, _"All I want For Christmas Is You"_ , and I was going to say, for better or for worse that's actually pretty on the nose," Jack said innocently.

Daniel squinted at him. Maybe it was a weird joke, Jack was known to do those. But there was a sly undertone, a fake innocence in his voice.

Or maybe Daniel had been cooped up in this room way too long to tell.

"You could...jump in, any time you wanted," Jack laughed, a little nervously.

There was a piece of string hanging from one hand that he kept fidgeting with nervously. And Daniel was starting to think he wasn't that crazy after all.

"Definitely for the better," he said with a wistful smile.

Jack's nervousness melted away, and he smiled back. For a moment they just stood there, grinning at each other like idiots. Then Jack held up the tape and string again.

"So, are you helping me or not?" He said, mischievous all around.

"Absolutely."


End file.
